


The Best Kind of Hunger

by oriolevent



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, M/M, Mystery, Nogitsune, Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski, Non-Human Stiles, Pack Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:32:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9512912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriolevent/pseuds/oriolevent
Summary: An old friend of the Hale pack disappears. The Yukimura clan is enlisted to help. Peter discovers Stiles is much more interesting than a potential murder mystery.





	1. I've been some horrible places

“Peter, where are the kids? You told them to be here, right?” 

Talia, as well as most of the Hale pack, was rushing around the house seeing to last minute preparations. Peter, on the other hand, was sitting on the couch reading. “They’re not children,” he reminded his sister, not looking up as she started readjusting every pillow in the room. “It’s not my job to track them down. And I still don’t know why you’re going to so much trouble.”

She just rolled her eyes, not willing to run through the myriad of reasons they had to make a good impression again. “At least promise me you’ll be polite. They’re coming a long way.”

“I’m always polite,” Peter sniffed, turning a page. “And Seattle is hardly a long way.”

The first car that pulled up belonged to Laura, and her brother and sister spilled out after her. “Sorry we’re late,” she said to Talia as they met at the door, exchanging quick hugs. “Cora’s class ran long, and we hit traffic on the way down here.”

“It’s fine, thanks for picking her up.” Their mother ushered them inside, phone in hand. “They’re just a few minutes away,” she said before disappearing to check on the progress of the wolves who had been delegated to preparing dinner. 

Derek wandered in to the living room where Peter sat, glancing at the book in his hands. “Shouldn’t you be doing something other than reading?” he asked, moving a blanket so he could sit on the overstuffed chair it was on, before he saw it was covering a rather obvious claw-shaped tear and replaced it. 

“I assure you, this is the best place for me,” Peter replied, the realization dawning that he was not about to be left alone for the duration of the evening. “I would only annoy your mother by disagreeing with her on everything she’s doing.”

“So nothing unusual,” Derek said, and Peter just smiled in return.

Soon they heard more cars arrive, and Derek leapt up to join his family out front. Peter took his time, taking his book back to the library to reshelve before wandering out the front door. By then their guests had already gotten out of their vehicles, and Talia was giving a fond greeting to the woman that stepped forward first. 

“Noshiko,” she smiled, clasping their hands together. “It’s been far too long since we’ve gotten together. Thank you for coming down so quickly.”

Peter knew Noshiko Yukimura, an old friend of his sister and a kitsune. She brought her clan with her, who now stood silently behind the woman, as if waiting for her instruction. “I’m glad to see you well, Talia,” Noshiko was saying, “though I’m sorry these are the events that finally bring us together again. My family are all willing to do what we can to help.”

Talia introduced her pack first, starting with the immediate family, before moving on to the betas that the kitsune would not have been familiar with — Scott, Erica, Boyd and Isaac, all around Cora’s age. “They were all turned since you were last in Beacon Hills,” Talia explained.

Noshiko introduced her husband, Ken, and daughter, Kira, before the rest of the clan. “And you remember Stiles, of course,” she said, gesturing to the young man by her daughter. He looked to be in his twenties, probably the same age as the younger betas, and he was staring at them all openly. Like the rest of the kitsunes, he was incredibly well dressed, in a tailored suit in a similar cut to Kira’s, though hers was more feminine. 

“Of course I do.” Talia gave him a fond, sympathetic look, which Stiles did not seem pleased to receive. He nodded in acknowledgement, but shifted his stance slightly towards Kira so as to not invite further conversation. 

Noshiko quickly intervened. “Well, shall we discuss a plan of action?”

Talia finally looked away from Stiles. “Yes, of course, but after dinner. It should be ready — Isaac, why don’t you and the others go finish up while I take our guests inside?”

The wolves dispersed as quickly as they had gathered, Talia taking Noshiko ahead of the others into the house. Peter leaned in the doorway, silently watching each fox as they came through. They seemed unfazed by him, all ignoring him as they passed, except for Stiles. He held Peter’s gaze as he entered, head tilting in the slightest way until Kira nudged him and he fell back in line with the others. 

At dinner, Peter was seated beside his sister with Noshiko on her other side. He had hoped that their meeting would not be unnecessarily drawn out, but there had been no word of business since their arrival. Peter had no interest in listening to the two women reminisce about their younger days together. He picked up his wine glass and turned his ears elsewhere in the room. 

The betas were, unsurprisingly, the liveliest ones there. Erica was discussing some television show with Laura, declaring her stance on the representation of bisexuality in the media, to which Isaac was adding occasional commentary. Derek was asking Cora about her college courses, and Scott was doing his best to draw Kira into a conversation. 

“We had a fox come in to the vet last month,” he was saying, apparently grasping for common ground. “It was pretty cool. I mean, we don’t get a lot of wild animals, we’re not that kind of clinic, but it had a sprained ankle so we were able to help it. Well, it actually didn’t take too well to the anesthetic, but in the end it was fine.”

“It’s nice that you were able to help it,” she offered, before making herself busy with a spoonful of soup.

Scott clammed up for a moment, before looking around for some other topic. “Hey Stiles,” he said, noticing he had been quiet for most of the dinner. “We haven’t seen you since like, what, elementary school? How’ve you been?”

Stiles seemed a bit surprised by the question. “Uh, fine, I guess.” 

“Stiles hates formal events,” Kira cut in quickly, apologizing for him in a loud whisper even though it was perfectly easy to hear. She gave Stiles a small smile, which he returned, focusing on his dinner again. “So what other kinds of animals do you get at the clinic?” she asked Scott, who was more than happy to inform her. 

Peter observed this exchange with mild interest. He only vaguely remembered when his sister had had to deal with the Stilinski boy — it was over a decade ago, and he hadn’t thought about it since. But apparently he had survived, and the foxes seemed somewhat protective of him. 

Later on in the evening, Talia invited Noshiko to her office, a soundproofed room upstairs. Peter waited to see if his sister would invite him along, and with a glance, she did. 

The door to the office was shut as the three of them entered and sat around the heavy oak table in the centre of the room. “I presume you’ve heard nothing since we last spoke,” Noshiko began.

Talia shook her head. “Nothing. I reached out to a few other mutual friends, but nobody’s heard from Satomi. Her pack is gone, too. I might have been the last one to hear anything from her at all.”

Noshiko looked grim. “This is most unlike her. We may not speak often, but she has never failed to return a call.”

It had been two weeks since the other alpha werewolf had failed to show up for a meeting with Talia. Her pack was based three hours south of Beacon Hills, enough of a distance that they rarely ran into one another, but were available for occasional meetings about pack affairs. It had been strange when Satomi had not shown up, but stranger when nobody had been able to reach her or any member of her pack since then.

Peter made an unimpressed sound, and Talia glanced at him. “My brother’s under the impression that we have nothing to worry about.”

“That’s not what I said,” he corrected her. “We have plenty to be worried about, and that’s why we should stay out of it.”

“You think if something went after Satomi and her family, it wouldn’t just as quickly move on to yours?” Noshiko asked, eyes fixed on him. 

“I think,” he said slowly, “that it would be wise to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention. If something intends to come to Beacon Hills, I doubt we can do anything to stop it, but in the off chance it hasn’t already considered it…” 

“Even if this is the case, we owe it to Satomi to investigate,” Talia frowned. 

Noshiko nodded in agreement. Peter stayed silent. “Has your emissary found anything?” The kitsune glanced out the window at the setting sun. 

“He’s working on finding a locator spell. He’s going to get back to me with the components he needs as soon as he finds what they are.” Talia had gone to Deaton first, of course, before calling Noshiko. He had been about as inclined to help as Peter was, but the alpha could be very persuasive. He gave in, but made no promises for results — Talia left out this fact. 

“Good. In the mean time, I have some suggestions about how we organize our search.” Noshiko pulled out a folio she had brought with her, revealing pages of handwritten notes on lined white paper. Talia went to get a map of California, and Peter stood up to excuse himself. If his opinion was going to be ignored, he saw no point in lingering around.

He had only just closed the door behind him, when someone stepped out in front of him. “Are they going after her?” It was Stiles, who had apparently been standing outside, anxiously fidgeting with his jacket sleeves, since they first went in. “What did they decide?”

Peter looked at him before stepping around him to continue heading downstairs. “Apparently so.”

“Oh, thank god,” he said, and Peter paused mid-step. Stiles sounded relieved, but he smelled…electric, like excitement.

Peter turned back to him. “What kind of fox are you?”

Stiles seemed startled. “Um, isn’t that kind of rude? Do people just go around asking werewolves what colour their eyes are?”

Peter flashed his, just to see what his reaction would be. Stiles only blinked back, so Peter tried another direction. “What does it matter to you, if they find Satomi or not?”

“I owe her a lot,” Stiles answered easily. “She helped me get control after— well, you probably know that story, don’t you?” He gave a rueful smile, and Peter said nothing, since he actually didn’t remember much about what had happened. “Anyways, I don’t think I could have gotten myself under control if it weren’t for her. She basically saved my life. So I owe her, like, a lot.”

“And so that’s supposed to be enough of a reason for me to be fine with my pack getting involved in whatever she got caught up in?”

Stiles smirked. “Well, last time I checked, blue-eyes, you’re not the alpha, are you? Looks like you don’t call the shots around here.”

Peter growled, until he heard Laura and Cora react to it downstairs, their chairs scraping against the floor as they came through the house to see what was the matter. Stiles pushed past him, going downstairs first, saying a friendly hello to Peter’s nieces as he passed them.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Cora said as Peter met them after. “Scott says he’s a nogitsune. They’re pretty much impossible to get along with, apparently.”

That sounded somewhat familiar. Peter considered just going to their library now, but resolved to wait until the foxes were gone. “They’ve rented a house in town,” Laura said as they wandered into the kitchen. Their guests were all in the living room, but there were plenty of other wolves to keep them entertained. “So I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of any of them, really. Unless mom keeps inviting them over.”

“We could just go hide at Derek’s apartment,” Cora suggested. It was a fairly common escape plan for them, seeing as he was the only member of the family that had successfully moved out of the house. Cora only managed to be away during the school year. “And he can go help mom, and tell her that we’ve all got terrible fleas and can’t help.”

“You tried the flea excuse during spring break last year,” Derek reminded her as he walked in to the kitchen, exchanging an empty wine bottle for a full one from the fridge. “When you didn’t want to come help repaint the house, remember?”

“Oh, right.” Cora slumped at the kitchen table, while Laura and Peter sat more civilly. “What’s going on out there?” she asked her brother, watching him put the empty bottle into the recycling. “Worth hiding for?”

He shrugged. “Only if you want to miss seeing Scott embarrass himself in front of a girl. It’s the only reason I’ve stayed this long.”

They all went back out with him, but it wasn’t long until Talia and Noshiko were coming downstairs and rounding up the foxes. “I’ll run them through everything tomorrow,” Noshiko told the alpha as they filed out the door. “And we’ll start as soon as possible.”

Talia waved them off, lingering in the doorway until the rear lights of their cars disappeared into the night. “What exactly will we be starting, dear sister?” Peter asked, coming to stand beside her. 

“Nothing you’re going to enjoy,” she assured him, taking a final breath of the fresh air before closing the door and turning off the outdoor lights. She gave him a light punch on the arm before going to the rest of the pack in the living room.


	2. They bite like a serpent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search begins for Satomi and her pack.

Peter turned to the library when he was left to his own devices. He was the only member of the pack that seemed to have any interest in setting foot in the room, let alone picking up any of the old and incredibly valuable books that they inevitably underestimated. He had taken to looking after the collection himself years ago — expanding it some, too — and so it only took a moment before he found the bestiary he knew to be most reliable. 

He sprawled out in a dark leather chair and flipped through the pages. The entry for kitsunes was long. The species was so diverse, each variety merited its own entry, and most of this volume appeared to be dedicated to the creatures.

Peter was optimistic until he flipped through to a page with the word nogitsune written in bold black ink, a precise symbol beside the word identifying the creature as one requiring extreme caution. The entry was tragically short, as if the author had never met anyone who knew more than a snippet of information. But at the very least, it jogged his memory in regards to Stiles.

Peter had known his mother. Or known of her, at least. She was a nogitsune herself, up until she gave birth to her son. As the bestiary informed him, it was a unique quality among kitsune that a nogitsune manifested through a family line, and clearly this had been the case for Claudia and Stiles. It had always been Talia's job to go out and interact with other supernaturals in the community, as Peter preferring to stay in the background, so he hadn’t been witness to the upbringing of the little fox, nor the fallout when his mother had died. 

Peter did the math quickly. He must have been in high school at the time, which probably accounted for his ignorance of the subject. That must have been when Satomi and Noshiko were called in, to help the boy cope without his mother there.

This knowledge only slightly prepared Peter for the following day when his sister informed him that he had been assigned to work with Stiles for the search missions. “I would have put him with Scott, or someone that knows him,” Talia apologized, “but Noshiko thought he would be better off with someone a bit more…mature.”

As if that wasn’t the most suspicious thing Peter had ever heard. At the very least, he had his newfound curiosity about Stiles to entertain him. That, and the fact that nobody aside from himself seemed to have been able to coax more than a few words out of him. 

The foxes returned mid-morning, pouring out of their fleet of cars and wasting no time in finding the wolves they had each been assigned to, and apparently familiarized with. Stiles found Peter first, looking much happier than he had a right to. “We’ve been given a forest to survey,” he announced, a map pulled up on his phone. 

Peter had been sitting on the front patio with a cup of coffee, Cora stretched out beside him with her feet in his lap. He was barely tolerating it and Stiles was a welcome interruption, though he saw the disapproving face Cora pulled when she looked at the fox. “Isn’t that unusual?” Peter pushed Cora’s legs away, ignoring her protests. “Unlikely an entire pack of wolves is sitting out in an open forest, is it not?”

Stiles shrugged, but he didn’t seem too bothered by the prospect. “Can’t be too careful. You just know they’ll be in the one place we don’t bother to look.”

“It’s not hide-and-seek,” Cora chirped out, stretching across the bench after Peter vacated his seat and eyeing another fox that was nearing them. Stiles went silent, looking at Cora with a measuring eye.

The others seemed paired up at random, save for Noshiko and Talia who would work together. Scott stood on the driveway looking forlorn, paired with another fox instead of Kira, who sent a smile in his direction, at least. “Stay connected, answer your phones,” Talia instructed everyone as they gathered, “and report back here before dark. If any of you don’t show up we’re going to assume something has happened, so do not be late.”

Peter sighed, and made Stiles wait outside while he went in and changed his shoes to something he wouldn’t mind wearing into a forest. When he came back out, most of the cars were gone. “By all means, take your time,” Stiles drawled, leaning against the porch. “Not like we’re on a rescue mission or anything.”

“We don’t know that it’s a rescue mission,” Peter said, leading them over to his car. He was very particular about who he let sit in it, and he hadn’t yet made up his mind if Stiles met his rigorous standards — he didn’t seem as well-dressed today, forgoing the suit for more casual clothes. This didn’t do him any favours, but the fox climbed into the passenger side before Peter could finish judging him. He rolled his eyes and climbed in too. 

Stiles directed him to the highway, and they were silent as they passed through the streets of Beacon Hills. It was quiet, most people at work or school. Talia had made the pack members call in sick for a few days — it wasn’t an uncommon thing, and no wolf had a job that would mind. It was hard to keep one that didn’t at least allow a few days off around the full moon each month. 

Peter glanced out the side of his eye at Stiles as they drove through the town. He wondered if he had been back since leaving, but didn’t want to ask. There was something unappealing about appearing too curious. But surely it must have been a nostalgic moment, whether for good or bad. Nothing about his expression would betray him, though. His stare out the window was determinedly impassive.

Their destination was only an hour out of town, and Peter thought it likely that the search perimeter would only widen each day, if they found nothing. He wondered idly at what point he might appeal to his sister to call the whole thing off. Likely not before they covered all Satomi’s territory, and a few miles beyond. 

“So, you pick fights with your sister a lot?” Stiles asked casually, arm leaning on the window frame. His other hand’s fingers tapped a rapid beat on his thigh. “I only ask, since there’s a bit of a…palpable tension between you, so to speak.”

“So to speak,” Peter repeated. He had been told they were pairing wolves with foxes for their different abilities — the werewolves’ senses were much stronger, but the foxes were quicker and more observant. He had agreed to disagree on that one. “Is that a nogitsune thing?”

Stiles tipped his head noncommittally. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“And why would that be?”

“We’re supposed to be a team.” Peter didn’t think he could have possibly sounded more sarcastic. “And you’re the most interesting person in your pack. It was nice of Noshiko to give you to me.”

Peter’s hand gripped the steering wheel tightly. “You’re quite talkative, compared to how you are in front of the others.”

Stiles laughed, loading up the map on his phone again. “I was asked to be quiet. They didn’t want me causing any trouble during such auspicious negotiations.”

“You’ll forgive me if I find it hard to imagine you following instructions.”

Stiles glanced over at Peter, before going back to smiling down at his phone and opening up a text message. “I had the right incentive. Take this next exit.”

The forest was outside of Hale territory, but only by a few miles. It was too close to be claimed by any other pack, at least, and remained a neutral zone. “So what,” Peter closed his door and looked out at the trees, a hiking trail running into the forest from the road where they had parked. “We’re just supposed to search this entire place?”

Stiles hauled the backpack he had brought with him over one shoulder. “Not unless you feel like suffering. We’ve just got to get to about the middle, and I’ve got a scanner to set up. Feel free to be grateful to be paired with me, now,” he added, starting down the trail. “The rest of them are going to be sniffing around like bloodhounds.”

Peter would have liked to be ungrateful, but he hadn’t actually been looking forward to wasting a day combing the forest. Stiles seemed to know exactly where he was going, following his GPS, and Peter began to wonder if he had somehow been tricked into simply being a chauffeur.

At the very least, Stiles was talkative now. He seemed able to use a lot of words to say nothing in particular, but every now and then Peter was struck that he was actually quite intelligent. Stiles made remarks about the pack that would have required very keen observation to pick up on, especially after only spending one evening together. “Cora said she’s in college,” he recalled. “What is she studying?”

Peter thought about it. She had changed her major four times already, maybe more. “Forensic biology,” he said, hoping it was still true. “Apparently being a werewolf gives her an edge, and she got along quite well with the dogs they work with.”

“Makes sense,” Stiles nodded. The trees around them were getting older, the closer to the middle of the forest they went. “She’s at Berkeley, right? I went there too. Graduated two years ago.”

“I thought you were the same age.”

Stiles shrugged. “Probably, but I started early. AP classes, that sort of thing.”

He went on to talk about his major in sociology and minor in military history with some enthusiasm, though he never lost track of their heading, even when he directed them off the trail and into the uncharted woods. Peter even found himself answering the questions Stiles threw at him sometimes, even the more personal ones that he wouldn’t have intended to answer otherwise. Stiles seemed to have a way of drawing it out of him, and Peter found it amusing.

“We’re here.” Stiles stopped them abruptly, slinging down his backpack and kicking clear a space on the forest floor.

Peter watched as he pulled out some sort of device that synced up with his phone. After it was all set up, it let out an aggravating frequency that only Peter seemed able to hear. “That’s interesting,” Stiles remarked, seeing how it bothered him. “I can’t hear anything. I guess you wolves really do have keener senses.”

“What is this meant to do, exactly?” Peter asked, flinching a little as his ears rang.

“This is my supernatural detector,” Stiles gestured down at it grandly, “it goes ding when there’s stuff.” He paused, looking for some sort of reaction out of Peter. “No? Nothing? Ugh, well it’s calibrated to pick up on auras, and sends back a reading based on what kind of aural interference it hits.”

Peter moved a ways back, which only helped a little with the noise. “Where did you pick that up?”

“Internet,” Stiles sounded like it was obvious. Peter only looked at the device more suspiciously.

It took a couple of minutes before the scanner seemed to finish its task. “Nothing,” Stiles announced, reading whatever results had appeared on his phone screen. “There’s a pair of humans a mile and a bit from here, probably hikers. Lots of deer, not much else interesting.” He sighed, but he didn’t seem too surprised. 

“You didn’t expect to find anything,” Peter hazarded a guess, watching as Stiles packed the scanner away again. 

Stiles glanced up at him briefly, and seemed to consider something before speaking. “Yeah, there’s nothing around here. I was just being thorough. I kind of just wanted to give this thing a test run, haven’t been able to use it on anyone other than foxes yet.”

Peter’s ears had stopped ringing since the scanner stopped but he still rubbed his head tiredly. “And are you going to share with the class how you know this?”

Stiles looked pleased that he had asked. “I’ll let you in on some classified info,” he hauled on the backpack again before leaning in conspiratorially to Peter, “if someone’s kidnapped, or in a fight, or if there’s any sort of conflict, that tends to generate a hell of a lot of chaos. And I’d pick up that shit a mile away.”

This actually made sense, from what Peter had read in the bestiary. Nogitsune thrived on mischief, and he had already gathered that Stiles was working with several agendas that he was keen to unravel. “I think you’re right,” Peter told him as they walked back to the car. “I am rather glad I was paired with you.”

They were done with their assigned territory long before sunset, so Stiles made them stop at a diner along the highway to eat. “You know there are much better places we could go,” Peter suggested, looking up at the fluorescent sign with mild distaste. 

“That would be nice, except I’m looking for something deep fried within an inch of its life.” Stiles pushed through the door and located the cleanest-looking booth available, which Peter found to be considerate. He ventured to order a hamburger from the waitress when she finally made her way over to them, while Stiles got curly fries and chicken tenders. 

When the food arrived, Peter sniffed and decided not to touch it. He watched Stiles for a moment before he couldn’t resist prodding, just a little. “So, you haven’t been back in Beacon Hills for a long time.”

Stiles froze mid-chew for a millisecond, so quick that Peter wouldn’t have noticed were he not paying rapt attention. “Yeah,” he said after he swallowed, “The Yukimuras, they adopted me, so, you know. Not much reason to go back until now.”

“What about your father, is he not in the picture?”

It was interesting, Peter thought, how Stiles’ expressions betrayed so much. They were minute shifts, but when you started looking for them, he was much more expressive than he appeared to be aiming for. “Are you being serious?” Stiles asked, suddenly on edge. 

“I was only curious,” Peter said innocently. 

Stiles seemed to evaluate him again, before shaking it off and eating. “Well, that’s not really a conversation for the first date.”

“I don’t think this is a date.”

“Even more reason not to talk about it, then. Tell me how Scott and the others joined the pack.” Stiles’ curiosity about this, at least, seemed genuine. Peter told him about each beta’s individual sob story — debilitating asthma, abusive father, chronic loneliness, epilepsy — and he seemed to consider each one in turn. “That’s good,” he concluded, eating his last fry thoughtfully. “I remember them from school, way back in the day. They were all good kids. I wasn’t sure how I felt about them all being dragged into this world without knowing the reasons.”

“Talia has always been very conscientious about how she uses her powers,” Peter admitted. Cora had brought Erica home first, after already telling the girl about werewolves in the first place. The pack was smaller than they liked, at that point, and Talia had been more easily swayed into biting the girl than she might have been otherwise. But she had made sure Erica was fully aware of the consequences, just as she did with the three other kids that followed.

Peter paid for their dinner and drove them back to Beacon Hills with enough time before sunset to keep them from facing any alpha wrath. As the others arrived home too, it seemed that no one had any success in their searches. “We’ll try again tomorrow,” Talia said, before they all dispersed for the night. Peter watched as Stiles disappeared into the fold of his family again, Kira gravitating towards him before they climbed into their car together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the nice feedback! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story :)

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this fic over a year ago and just now decided to go through with finishing it! The rest of the chapters should be up over the next few weeks. Please let me know if you're enjoying the story (& don't be shy pointing out spelling/grammar mistakes!) xoxo


End file.
